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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Positioned for Scissoring Success by Dr. Mari

By, Marianne Gibbs, EdD, OTR/L

www.writeoutofthebox.com

Facilitating
appropriate arm and hand positioning is critical when children are developing
their scissor skills. “Positioned for Scissoring
Success” means the thumb is facing up on the hand holding the scissors and that
the arm is moving away from the body when cutting instead of toward it. Try
these positional strategies when the hand or arm is curved or being used in an
unorthodox position:

Get Rid of the Table:Some students perform cutting practice better when they are seated
away from the desktop or table surface. Often, scooting the chair back from the
table will improve positioning and holding of scissors and/or paper
automatically.

Fringy Fun:Tape paper to edge of desk or middle of easel so student can cut
upwardly and make “fringe.” This is a great technique to correctly position the
arm for cutting.

Hold
Tight:Have the child “hold” a small
roll of paper towel or newspaper between the underarm and torso of the cutting
arm to ensure that the arm stays in the correct position. This is a gem of a
tip!

Tummy Time:Lying on tummy to practice cutting will often correct arm
positioning automatically!

We hope you love scissor skill assessment tool –
Lollipop Friends! Educators can use this assessment tool to document progress and engage in productive conversations with a parent
about his/her child's scissor skill progress and goals. The Lollipop Friends
Assessment Booklet integrates perfectly into a student's cutting project
portfolio to capture multiple reflections of the student's journey to cutting
skill proficiency!

Lollipop Friends Assessment Booklet is available as
a single booklet for use with one child or in a reproducible format for easy
and cost-effective duplication. Full instructions
for implementation of Lollipop Friends are located in the Lollipop Friends
Assessment Booklet. For more information on this product please visit www.writeoutofthebox.com.

*** Note from the editor. There are terrific photos that go with this article. They are in a technological blackhole known as my laptop, that just crashed, big time. Twill work with Dr. Mari to get a new set and get them uploaded for your further insight, just ASAP. Ahhhhhhh. Technology. ~~ Debbie